Pastor Tony Jeffrey
Last month we discussed Dr. Jim Denison’s recent article, “Our Greatest Threat Is Our Greatest Opportunity.” Dr. Denison, founder of Denison Ministries, discussed what many people consider to be the greatest threats facing America.
He stated, “Our greatest threat comes not from finite and frail humans but from an infinite and omnipotent God. If our nation faces His wrathful judgment, our future is over. If we settle for the transactional religion of cultural Christianity rather than seeking a transformational relationship with the living Lord Jesus, we lose our capacity to be used by God to bring our sinful culture to repentance and divine favor, and our national future is in doubt. This is the greatest threat we face. But it is at the same time the greatest opportunity we can embrace.”
Jesus Christ is asking each of us as followers of Him to “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me” (Matthew 11:29). Getting into the yoke with Jesus means not only trusting Him for your salvation but being willing to make Him your Lord, your Master. This involves yielding and surrendering your will to His. It means being obedient to His commands versus doing what you want to do. When we, by God’s grace, do this, we are what the Bible says in Ephesians 5:18, “filled with the Holy Spirit.” “Filled” in this context means “to be controlled by.” When we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit can live through us and others can see Christ in us. However, if we refuse to yield, surrender, and obey and insist on living our lives according to our will, we block the work Christ is desiring to do through us and become ineffective to a needy world.
In the 19th century, the Billy Graham of America was the famous pastor and evangelist Dwight L. Moody. One day, when he was a teenager, he overheard his Sunday School teacher sharing with another student a statement that changed his life. His teacher said, “The world has yet to see what God can do through one man whose life is totally yielded to Him.” Dwight Moody said, “By God’s grace, I will be that man!” Moody went on to preach to over 100 million people, published books, provided Bible education for women, founded schools, the Moody Bible Institute, was actively involved in serving the poor, and was a leader in the YMCA.
After full surrender, Paul’s second point in Romans 12:1-2 is that we must be transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Why do we need to renew our minds?
Next month we will discuss how critical a fully surrendered life is to being filled with the Holy Spirit. Come visit us at Fellowship at the Ranch Church on Sundays at 10:30 a.m.!