“MEASURED DEVOTION OR
UNLIMITED SURRENDER?”
BY: J.FARRELL FISHER, Oct. 9-11, 2017
It’s without hesitation that I sense and say that our ‘modern-day’ religious philosophies have very little, if any, to do with Biblical Revelation! In fact many deny the validity of the Holy Word of God birthed in the minds and hearts of men and women, convicted by the Holy Spirit, converted by the inspired Word, and anointed as His messengers of Divine Truth!
In the inspired word of Hebrews 11:1-3 we read: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
Verse 6 of Hebrews 11 then tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Are YOU a diligent seeker?). Not only Abel and Enoch, but we read of Noah, Abraham, and Sarah, with Hebrews 11:13 telling us: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”
Tell me about “what YOU are assured of,” tell me, have YOU embraced Christ or is your belief in Him one of ‘measured devotion’, AND have YOU “confessed” that you also are now a stranger and pilgrim on the earth, because your ‘faith’ is not measured but IS “unlimited full surrender” to the King of kings and Lord of lords? And that does declare you “a stranger and pilgrim on the earth”!
In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said about the “truly blessed disciples”, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” In Christ we’re not called to be “children in understanding” but from birth on BY THE SPIRIT, we are to be disciples of Christ who understand and commit to and follow Him in “Unlimited Surrender”!
In the ‘flesh’ there is a ‘maimed existence’ void of God’s presence, but in the “Spirit” we are birthed into the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ! That’s “new creations”, “new men and new women”, truly living under, in, and by, to us, the “new Spirit” who “guides us into all truth”!
Are you a possessor of ‘measured devotion’ or do you live in and by the power of unlimited surrender? Follow carefully Psalm 33:1-11 and verses 13-14 and verses 18-22!
Psalm 33:1-11 says: “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! (Righteous because of what you do or what Christ did on the Cross?). For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp; make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the Lord is right, and all His work is done in truth. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the people of no effect. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.”
Verses 13-14 tells us: “The Lord looks from heaven; He sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth;
Verses 18-22 then says: “Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy, To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You.”
“Unlimited surrender” actually, effectively, and ultimately continues to, day by day, bless beyond measure because true disciples have birthed within them by the Holy Spirit an unflinching loyalty to the Word of God in Christ, “Come unto Me, and I will give you rest”! And didn’t the psalmist say, “Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You”? Where and in whom does your hope lie, if you have any hope?
But, for some, there IS the reality of “measured devotion”! Yes, there are limited limits of one’s ‘discipleship-loyalty’ because, for them, “Jesus asks too much”, which He never did – He just took your old life and old sin nature to the Cross and, yes, it WAS “crucified with Christ”, and seeking to resurrect what He carried to the Cross unveils one’s faith in himself and a lack of trust in what Christ did to give one new life, new hope, and a new eternal destiny!
In Philippians 3:10-14 Paul wrote: “…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Hear me! There IS a maturing process in one’s relationship to Christ! “Babies” in Christ sometimes ‘mess up’, ‘children in the faith’ also will ‘mess up’, ‘youngsters in the faith’ will ‘mess up’, and, dare I say it? Even Mature followers of Christ will, at times, yes, tragically ‘mess up’! But in 1 Corinthians 1:9 we read of God’s faithfulness! Paul wrote: “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
In 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 Paul added: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I have determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
“Measured devotion” is revealed in “professing folks” who are, yes, always looking inward to themselves as an explanation of whether or not they are ‘maturing’. Yet Paul said: “I take the sentence of death daily to the ‘old man’ that the resurrection life of Christ may be manifested in my mortal flesh!” So, in 1 Corinthians 2:9-12, Paul illumines true spiritual witness and spiritual understanding, saying, But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us THROUGH His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things THAT HAVE BEEN FREELY GIVEN TO US BY GOD.” Glory! In fact, that’s a “GLORY! HALLELUJAH! PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR HIS UNSPEAKABLE GIFTS!” And, did Paul say, “freely given to us by God”? Yes, he did!
But, “measured devotion” in place of or a substitute for “unlimited surrender”? In 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 the Apostle Paul writes a “game winning, historic, world series competition ‘heart-run’ between flesh and Spirit”, between the natural at its best and the spiritual rallying in “unlimited surrender”, and ‘religious do-gooders’ against the “new-born” sons and daughters of Christ’s eternal family! He said:
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent,” (Holy God defines fallen, self-inspired men as “those who are perishing” from those “who are being saved” because those who ‘are being saved’ rest in God’s wisdom and God’s redemptive power, not in their fleshly intellect!). Paul continued, Verses 20-25,
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
In which community have YOU chosen to live? The community of unbelievers, the community of “measured devotion” which is the one with self-limitations, OR the community, the family of God, the Bride of Christ who live in “unlimited surrender” to His sovereign rule? There’s an amazing word in 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:1 – don’t miss this!! It says:
“We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you NOT TO RECEIVE THE GRACE OF GOD IN VAIN. [Are there those who do?]. For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed. But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
O Corinthians! We have spoken openly to you, our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted by your own affections. (Question! WHAT REALLY HAS YOUR HEART AND MIND?). Now in return for the same (I speak as to children), you also be open. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them (the world, flesh, and Satan-devotees!) and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 7:1, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” “Measured devotion” OR “Unlimited Surrender”? Have YOU received “the grace of God in vain”? Measured devotion is ‘the treasure of self-effort at its best, leading to nothing’, but unlimited surrender is the eternal riches of being dead to the old man and living day by day in the fullness, the blessing, the ‘finished work’ of the Resurrected Christ!
In Jeremiah 1:8, as God called Jeremiah to ministry and service, He said to him and to every true child of faith in Christ, “…I am with you to deliver you!” Do YOU give the Lord Jesus His rightful place “in you” as your Lord and Savior, as the Master of your life, as, yes, Sovereign Administrator of your every- day step? Is Jesus King of your heart and mind? Is Christ Jesus “in you” as your Deliverer from your old sin-nature, your bondage to ‘devilish’ activity, and your fleshly allegiance to the world-influence around you that desires to maintain your allegiance to a “less than God devotion” but satisfying ‘personal desires’ without God interfering? Godless living is maniacal, manipulated by Satan, and spiritual insaneness! “God, move on the spiritual brainlessness by the Holy Spirit!”