No life of my own ...

There is a powerful song by William McDowell titled; I give myself away.  It is a probably the most recent song that expresses a surrender to God. This is not a new notion to the Christian faith. We have always loved songs that speak about surrendering to God, especially when we think of the great work he did on the cross.  I will go as far as saying that surrender is a minimum requirement if we are to experience God the way he promised in the bible.  Follow me, was the words Jesus used to call his disciples.  They all left what they were doing and submitted their lives to living for God.  In fact, the common thing we say in attempt to explain what we did when we accepted Christ is; “I gave my life to the Lord”.  Now the word “gave” means that we have no control over it anymore.  We do not have rights anymore; we have given over our rights to God.  The only way we can have rights is if we lend it to God. I mean, If I lend you my car, I have all the right to tell you how and how not to use it because I am going to use it again for my own reasons. God did not ask for us to borrow Him our lives for a moment with a promise to give it back, but He asked us to lay it down for His own use.  So the next time you utter the words “I surrender”, whether in song or prayer; make sure you mean it. Often we pray for the Lord to take over our lives, but when he does we complain.  Some of us still have not given it over to the Lord because like the rich young man in Mark 10, He asked us to let go of something that is valuable to us.  I believe that amongst many other reasons, we gave our lives over to God because we realized that we could not be trusted with ourselves. Before you continue reading this post, ask yourself the following words; did you give or lend your life to God?

 

Because I know that your mind is seeking to understand why you should give your life to God, we will go through a few scriptures that give us the reasons why. 2 Corinthians 5:1, a well quoted scripture by Christians. Often to emphasize the newness of life that comes with being in Christ, I love it. If we just backtrack a few scriptures from there and read verse 15; “... and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” The bible gives us the reason for the newness of life that is spoken about in verse 17. You will realise that verse 17 starts with the word “therefore”, meaning as a consequence of the death of Jesus on the cross, we have a newness of life.  This newness of life comes with an understanding of what life is all about, that it is about living for the One who died for us. The apostle Paul is not talking about something he does not know.  He speaks as one who has experienced the extremes of what it is to live for Christ. Having being flogged, thrown in jail more than he could remember, stoned and left for dead ... yet he could say “to live is Christ and to die is gain”.  This man had totally surrendered his life to Christ, not only for the good things that come with being God’s child, but also the hardships that come with it. It was no longer him who lived, but Christ who lived in Him. It was no longer about personal gain, but the Kingdom. Let’s look at another notion which I know is not new to you. The bible says that by the blood of Christ we were bought FOR God (Rev 5:9). This means that you do not have ownership over your life anymore, but God. Ever heard in soccer about a player being bought from one club from another? That means that he will no longer play for the old club, he is now under new management.  So it is with us, we were bought with the blood of Christ, an unmatched price to live our lives for God (1 Cor 7:23). If I was to rephrase it in modern terms; “stop living for evil when nobody is looking, but instead live for God because he bought you with a high price”. 

 

Just before I conclude, let me share with you a part of my life that is relevant to this topic. After matric, I decided that I wanted to be an accountant and went to study Business Management (Financial Accounting) at an FET college. I had hoped to apply to do a B.Com in Accounting after that and maybe even go all the way to be a CA. After my diploma, I felt a strong call of God to join the Foxfire ministry for a year before I study. I applied and was accepted and joined the team in 2010. Now this was a year’s program and from there, you to move on to whatever God calls you to.  I was actually asked to stay on as a Coordinator and give leadership to one of the teams. I thought that this would be a great learning experience for me and I grabbed it with both hands.  I stayed here for 2 more years, learning.  In those 2 years, Accounting was no longer a satisfying idea.  It would give me a lot of money, then what? I decided that I would balance it by studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics. In that way, I can do apologetics for ministry and have economics as a career, fair isn’t it?   This felt like a good idea for a while, but it also died out.  I asked God what it was He wanted me to do, and when He told me; I wanted to bargain with Him.  I asked Him to delay it, give it to someone else, or just kill it within me. Well it didn’t happen. Tell you what did happen though ... I realized that as much as I was singing songs of surrender and praying “Lord I give you my heart”, it was all lip service. I did not mean any of those words and it was tested when God asked me to let go of the very things that I thought I had to hold on to for my success.  All these years that I wanted to study, I was praying for financial provision so that I can study. Guess what, no response at all. When I finally listened to God, took Him at His word and applied for a degree in Theology, I was credited with 4 modules for experience in youth ministry and someone offered to pay for my tuition fees.  My application with the other university is still pending, from 2010. I am still struggling to get my application approved. When I finally decided to do what HE wants me to do for HIM, the doors opened. I realized that I had been living for me, planning with my own mind and trying to find funding by myself, to fulfil my plans. But when I started living for HIM, fulfilling HIS plans, with HIS guidance, HE sent someone to pay for my fees when I hadn’t even asked. So yeah, I am leaving a position with a salary (financial security) for volunteer and studies and I have no worries at all.  The God who has bought me, called me to live for Him and predestined me knows what he is up to. And because I now live for him, I now understand what Paul was saying in Romans 12. He says that we should be living sacrifices, not to conform to the world that lives for themselves, but to live for God, renew our minds everyday and in that way we will be able discern his good and perfect will for our lives. Now that I tell you, is sacrificial living!! (Read 1 Peter 1:18-19).

 

Thanx for reading and your kind responses it is encouraging to hear that these lessons I learn are helpful for all of you that read and respond.

God Bless you with Stax of blessings!!!!

 

Sorry Lord I did it ... AGAIN!

Just the other day, I was sharing my personal testimony with people at a furniture and home appliance store in Pietermaritzburg. Later that day, I was just reflecting on the grace of God in my life over the years. What stood out for me as I reflected were the different victories I had won under the guidance of the Lord. Among those victories was a victory over a habitual sin which had become a part of me for a long time. This sin kept me bondage and I prayed the same prayer over and over again; Sorry Lord I did it again. I felt so guilty that sometimes when I had not done it, I would say the same prayer. I mentioned in a previous post (Godly Sorrows) about a sin that was holding me back from doing the will of God.  This particular habitual sin was masturbation. I struggled for years with it, praying to God to get rid of it (sometimes in tears); yet it remained. I was genuine, but was using the wrong key to open lock for my freedom from the chains of slavery. As I reflected on this the other day, I heard the Lord say: "you are not the only one". Now this was not a statement to comfort me or give me permission to start doing it again, I do not need that because I have conquered this struggle. God was challenging me to share something with the body which has been disregarded and sometimes incorrectly addressed. This is not about masturbation, this is about habitual sins. That sin that you just can’t seem to get rid of. The one you have not told anyone about, you wonder what people will think of you if they knew. We do not all struggle with the same sins, but they all have the same remedy... God! In this short blog post, I hope to share my experience with you, so that you may be inspired to fight and win this battle. As I mentioned, the sin you struggle with might not be the one I struggled with; but I want you to read the following words with an open heart in regards to that particular sin.

 I was genuine in my prayers to God to get rid of the sin. I didn't want to live with guilt and shame anymore. I would feel terrible every time I did it, so much that I would not be able to talk to God. The problem with this was that I prayed and after praying wanted to overcome the sin with my own strength. I would go for a while without doing it, but after 2 weeks I would slip and fall. I would try again, harder this time; and make it for a few months but I would fall again. This was a cycle that led me to either: justify why the sin is not so bad after all or give up on ever being able to resist it. Let’s say you had a tree that was bearing bad fruit and you wanted to solve this problem, you have 2 options; you can pick all the fruits on the tree and wait for the next ones to grow in the next season or you can cut the tree right down to the roots and plant another one. Most of us use the first option, and it solve temporarily. The tree will produce the same fruits the next season. I would propose that we take the second option, this permanently solves the problem. Picking the fruit brings no change; it’s only a matter of time until the fruits (behaviour) grow again. Cutting the roots deals with the roots (heart). Good intentions are not enough; you need the power of God to change you from the inside out. The truth is, the closer we are to God, the more we are like Him. Ultimately He has the power to deal with sin, not us. If it were so, then Jesus wouldn’t have had to die on the cross. The key is to maintain a consistent relationship with God. As you draw near to Him, the scripture that says:"for God is working in you, giving you the power and desire to do what pleases Him" comes to pass. Notice that it does not say that it is "Sello" working in you, because he can't.  God is doing the work, you do not have to toil. It also says that He gives us the desire and power to do what pleases Him. As you stay close to God, the more you want to please Him and do all that He commands.

 As I conclude, two precautions: call it what it is ... SIN! Not; "oh it's just my weakness". Do not hide behind the statement: "It's a process". Although this might be true, a process is something that you actively work towards. If you believe that it is process, do your part by drawing closer to God. The same way a driver’s license will not magically appear in your wallet/purse because you simply prayed and never started the process by getting your learners license. The power of sin is in its secrecy. Before David's sin was exposed, he says his sin was "ever before him"; he had not repented and therefore could not be helped. The moment I told someone about it; I knew was headed towards the right direction. I am free now, no more shame and guilt. Talk to someone who will pray with you and keep you accountable to the process of freedom from this habitual sin. I am only a phone call, whattsapp message, email, fb inbox away. God has the power to break bondages and when he said "it is finished", he meant it!

 

God bless all of you. Hope this was helpful...

Stax of love packed in my heart for all of you!

Sello Mmane

 

Godly Sorrows Part II

Known as the man after God's own heart, David.  His amazing story so well documented in the 1st and 2nd book of Samuel, has many lessons for the 21st century Christians.  One of them is recorded in the 2nd book of Samuel 11. You may ask; of all the things that one can say or highlight about David's life, why choose to speak of his sin? well ... here is why: This story profoundly illustrates the  understanding of worldly and Godly sorrows.

 For the benefit of those that have not read the story, here's a summary: so David is king of Israel. One evening he finds himself walking on the roof of the palace and sees a married woman (Bathsheba) bathing.  He sends for her and sleeps with her. The woman conceives and sends a message to David about her pregnancy. Now Davids first response to the news is to hide/cover the sin. This is not a new thing, the common man's first instinct is to cover the sin so that nobody finds out about it. We can wrap it up as a mentality that says; "how can I can sin, get away with it and still be 'saved'". Its a mentality that is more worried about what the people will say and seemingly forgets that the Father in heaven sees all things. More worried about the consequence of the sin than the sin itself.  Any person who thinks like that does not truly repent but makes him/herself feel better by making a "1John 1:9" prayer. Don't get me wrong, there is power in the word of God and yes He forgives us, but wouldn't it be better if you meant it and was not just saying it to make yourself feel better. I think God honors that. Story continues ... David sends for the woman's husband Uriah who is fighting in battle with the Ammonites. David's plan was to get him to sleep with his wife so that it can look like he impregnated her, but Uriah being a noble man did not sleep with his wife.  This left David with one option ... to kill him. So he sends him back to the battle with a letter that commands Joab to put him at the heat of the battle so that he can be struck dead and so it happens, just as he had planned.  Now, our current generation of people have the kind of mindset that suggest that "the end justifies the means". This kind of thought says that it doesn't matter how you get what you want, as long as you get it.  So whether you sell drugs to get rich, sleep with the boss to get a job, pay a bribe to get a job, etc. it doesn't matte because you got what you wanted and nobody will know or can tell what you did to get what you have.  We see in this story that this was the same mindset of David, his need to satisfy the flesh made him to disregard the importance of obeying God's commands and value human life. So for as long as one can sin, get away with and still call themselves a Christian in the name of "we all sin", there will never be true repentance.

I am happy that the story does not end there, because what happens afterwards is what God is seeking from us.  After all this has happened, God sends Nathan to David to rebuke him of his sin. David then fasts and lies on the ground in repentance.  Psalm 51 is said to be the words of David to God after being confronted by Nathan. And although it is not recorded in the book of Samuel; I suspect that he said the words in that psalm during the time of prayer and fasting. In verse 4, David says: "Against You - You alone have I sinned" and I reckon if he had known that before, he wouldn't have had to cover his sin because he would have understood that it's no secret to the One who matters most. God.

So as we wrap up this 2 part series on Godly sorrows, let us walk by faith with the knowledge that worldly sorrow lead to death, death of the conscience because there is no repentance. Godly sorrows leads to repentance and life, because a total turn around from what is evil brings us closer to God, and the closer you are to God, the more you are like Him. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

God Bless you all and thanks for reading. 
Sorry to all the regular readers the delay, hope I'm forgiven and that we will continue to grow as I seek to share my lessons from God's word wit you.
Got stax of love for all of you ... Peace!