Hey friends! Below you will find my latest newsletter! Enjoy!
And a note about submission. As some of you who read this blog have found, it often acts as my diary (open for the world to read). So I feel compelled to share a word about submission with you today. Perhaps if only to put it out there for public record so that I am held accountable to what I feel God leading me to do.
It's an off-putting, dare I say alienating word--submission. It conjures up a whole host of images and emotions. And yet it is something we are encouraged to do, compelled to do, as those who have chosen to follow Christ. And I am, once again, being called to do it. It.is.NOT.fun!
I read this morning (after an insightful and convicting message last night and affirming talk after with my pastor) about submission in (....yes, you guessed it) My Utmost for His Highest:
"First be reconciled to your brother...' Our Lord's directive is simple--'First be reconciled...' He says, in effect, 'Go back the way you came-- the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.' Jesus does not mention the other person-- He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus."
OUCH! He always cuts right to the heart of the matter. "It's not a matter of your rights." But doesn't he know that I AM right. Doesn't Oswald know that what he's [my neighbor and brother in Christ] proposing is ridiculous, dare I say outlandish. Why would I submit to that? No one would disagree with me (particularly no one who lives in the US). It's unfair!
"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?...Submit yourselves then to God."
-James 4:1, 7
"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority..."
- 1 Peter 2:13
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." -Colossians 3:23-24
Amen. There's nothing left to do than submit. And oh, how it hurts, the injustice of it all. In fact, it reminds me of another injustice, an even greater one, the fruits of which I now live in each day, I drink in morning and night. And I remember, it is for FREEDOM that Christ has set me free. And that includes a FREEDOM to submit--not for my sake, certainly not for the unjust, ridiculous, law-keeper's sake, but for HIS sake, to bring HIM honor and glory, to love and obey HIM, and to live in the light of His truth and grace.
Pura Vida September 2012
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