And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? Matthew 6:30 (NLT
Oswald Chambers wrote this devotion in his book My Utmost for His Highest, and I wanted to share it with you because I believe that is where we need to position ourselves. Consecrated to God - setting ourselves apart, devoted, clean, and holy in our relationship with God. Being consecrated is a critical component in our relationship to God and those in the world. Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers (sisters), in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2). ALL BELIEVERS ARE CALLED TO CONSECRATION. LIVING A LIFE SURRENDERED TO LORD!
"A simple statement of Jesus is always a puzzle to us because we will not be simple. How can we maintain the simplicity of Christ so that we may understand Him? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying on Him, and obeying Him as He brings us the truth of His Word, life will become amazingly simple. Jesus asked us to consider that “if God so clothe the grass of the field... “How “much more” will He clothe you, if you keep your relationship right with Him? Every time we lose ground in our fellowship with God, it is because we have disrespectfully thought that we knew better than Jesus Christ. We have allowed “the cares of this world” to enter in (Matthew 13:22) while forgetting the “much more” of our heavenly father.
“Look at the birds of the air...” ( 6:26 ). Their function is to obey the instincts God placed within them, and God watches over them. Jesus said that if you have the right relationship with Him and will obey His spirit within you, then God will care for your “feathers” too.
“Consider the lilies of the field...” ( 6:28 ). They grow where they are not planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don't take root anywhere. Jesus said if we would obey the life of God within us, He would look after all other things. Did Jesus Christ lie to us? Are we experiencing the “much more” He promised? If we are not, it is because we are not obeying the life God has given us and have cluttered our minds with confusing thoughts and worries. How much time have we wasted asking God senseless questions while we should be absolutely free to concentrate on our service to Him? Concentration is the act of continually separating myself from everything except that which God has appointed me to do. It is not a one-time experience but an ongoing process. Am I continually separating myself and looking to God every day of my life?"
Romans 12:1 states, "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service." When we present ourselves to the Lord in consecration, He has the freedom to do whatever HE wants in and through us. Why, you ask? Because when we say "yes" to God, we acknowledge and accept that He died on the cross, He shed His own blood to redeem or purchase us from the condemnation of sin, which is hell and death. Ultimately, what this means is that we belong to Him. Therefore, He can do what pleases Him. But get this, our Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, WILL NOT force us to hand ourselves over to Him. He wants us to offer ourselves to Him willingly.
A Prayer of Consecration by Hannah Smith (1832-1911)
"I feel that perhaps it will help me to write out a definite consecration of myself to God so that I may distinctly grasp the reality and irrevocableness of it.
Lord, I am yours, yours wholly, and yours forever! I am yours by the purchase of your blood, and I present myself to you now as a living sacrifice, body, soul, and spirit to be as clay in your hands.
I give you my heart, Lord, to love only what you love; to hate what you hate; to endure all things, to suffer long and be kind, to be not easily provoked; to think no evil, not to seek my own. Help me, oh my God!
I give you my intellect to be wholly devoted to your service, and perfectly under your control to think only whose thoughts that will please you, to devise only such plans as you suggest, to yield the management of all its affairs to you! I give it to you that you may fulfill the purposes of your grace by casting down in me imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” Help me, oh my God.
I give you my body to be used by you. My eyes to see only what you would have them see, my ears to hear only what you would have them hear; my feet to go only where you lead, my hands to do only what can be done in fellowship with you, my tongue to speak only words that please you. I give you any appetite to be under thy control and regulation. I give my time to you, Lord, to be all employed for you.
I leave my reputation in your hands. I give you my children, my husband, and everyone whom I love to be disposed of according to your will. I leave to you the ordering of my whole life, and with your help will follow you wherever you lead. I will give you the control of my feelings and of my prejudices.
I submit, in short, my whole being and life all that I am and have and will be to your complete control and only ask that your will may be perfectly done in me, through me and by me! Take me and keep me oh my God!"
May we all see the need to live totally committed and sold out for Christ! What steps do you need to take today to trust God completely?