“That we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name.” The end of the confession prayer. As I sat in church awhile back, I couldn’t help but think back to the book, Jesus Over Everything, and how this is what a life with Jesus is all about. How we have such a beautiful opportunity to learn from him, walk with him, and grow with him. But in order to do so, we must die to ourselves. Because that my friends is the key to life, where we can truly delight in His will and walk in His ways, all for the glory of His name. When we are able to die to ourselves, we not only find our truest identity, but we also find a life worth living.
Lisa Whittle says, “The true success of a person is not in whether she can make her life work; it’s in whether she can die to her life enough for Jesus to work in her.”
Because it is in our surrender where Jesus can really get to work in us.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Matthew 16:24-26
It’s all right there, we find life by losing it, by denying ourselves and seeking Him, turning to Him, surrendering to Him. These are verses that I go back to often, ones that remind me life is beautiful, full of joy and love and goodness. But that life, it is not found in the things of this world. It is found in Jesus. In who He is, not in who we are. It is in our denial of self, when we can truly come to the end of who we are, where God can finally begin the work of making us into who we were always meant to be. It is at the end of our strength that His power is made perfect, and in the emptiness of our self-denial, He pours in the fullness of His Spirit. We see this truth all over the bible, don’t take my word for it, go read it for yourself in 2 Corinthians 12:9, John 3:30, Galatians 2:20 and many more.
Once we say yes to Jesus, once we reach that surrender, it is not longer us, but it is Christ who lives in us. It is at the shoreline of our own exhaustion where His grace begins to flow. We simply bring Him our nothing, and He returns to us His everything. Sounds like a sweet life if you ask me, found only in surrender and obedience.
Lisa Whittle also spoke so clearly about God’s Land in her book, Jesus Over Everything. She painted a picture of His creation and a hot Texas ranch. For me, I don’t find peace there, in extreme heat or surrounded by animals that could kill me. But, as I read through what she had to say, I had my own pictures of what God’s country is to me:
Paddling out into the ocean to catch a few waves at sunset. Cruising on a boat in the middle of the lake, listening to nothing but the loons. Seeing a humpback whale breach right in front of me (man those guys are huge!) And my all time favorite, siting on the dock after a long summer day, watching the sun go down over the lake. Beauty. All of it. And it is everywhere we look. I often look at God’s creation and think, “How could you see this and not believe in God?” If you are here and you do believe in God, you know what I mean. And I bet in your mind right now, you are picturing exactly what God’s country is to you.
Now, think back to the creation story in Genesis 1. Each time God created something, He saw that it was good. What He created, those pictures in our minds, the places we go to experience Him, it is good indeed. But you know what, I had a pastor point this out to me one time. Something so small that we might miss it if we don’t lean in close enough. At the end of creating mankind in their own image, Genesis 1:31 says, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Once mankind, you and me, came into play, His creation went from good to VERY GOOD. This is our truest and purest identity, children of God, created in His own image, and we are very good. Not innately, not by what we do, but by what He has done, by His Spirit within us. By what He did for us on the cross. And when we die to ourselves, this is the truth we rest in. The only way to deny who we are is to know whose we are. My friends, you are loved by God. You were made on purpose for a purpose. Don’t waste it. Be reminded of His truth, of His goodness, and of His love for you. But, don’t stay there. Go out there and live the life you were created to live, in your truest identity by denying yourself, picking up your cross and following Jesus daily.
I want to leave you with one of my all time favorite bible verses (I know I have a lot of favorites, but this one really is.) It is one that brings me back to who I am and what my purpose in this life is. It reminds me daily of His sovereignty and allows my soul to rest easy, knowing that we are His and He is ours. It reminds me that when we come to the end of our self, we are lead to the very good that God intended from the very beginning. It’s where we realize self-denial isn’t about self-loathing, but about restoration. When we deny our fallen selves, we aren’t destroying who we are, we are clearing away the wreckage to find the original Image of God that He declared “very good” at the beginning.
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:11
Love and blessings,
Radical Road 