Adventures in the Land of CanaanBerry, R. L. (Robert Lee)
Religion
Adventures in the Land of Canaan
Berry, R. L. (Robert Lee)
Christian life
The condition for obtaining this grace consisted in an absolute submission
to die, a yielding of all to God's will; as she met the condition, so
she received "dying grace." But the sequel was unexpected. While one
receiving dying grace was supposed to die, this young woman lived and
got well. But her "dying grace," as they termed it, was still hers. One
day she spoke of it to her mother and said: "Mother, I am coming to
believe that 'dying grace' is the grace we need to live by." And it is.
This young woman had made the deathbed consecration. God had accepted
the sacrifice, had poured out His grace, and the young woman was sanctified
wholly; and that was exactly what she needed to live by. She had died
to self.
Now, how shall you know that all is given up and the sacrifice acceptable
to God? This may well engage our attention.
First of all, remember that your will is your own, and that you yourself
know what your intentions are. Whenever you decide to go to town to buy
a hat or coat, you have no trouble in knowing your mind, do you? Of
course not! And you can be just as sure of your mind or will in the
matter of consecration to God.
You might begin this way: I desire to be wholly the Lord's: my will I
desire to surrender; and my life I wish to be lived for God. Since the
Lord in His Word has said, "By the mercies of God ... present your bodies
a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service" (Romans 12:1), you may rest assured that God only awaits this
surrender, and will be glad to accept it.
Now, do not only desire to be consecrated, but at once begin to count
yourself the Lord's, permanently, irrevocably, for time, for eternity.
Some, in the earnestness and intensity of their souls, in the solemn
hour of their complete and definite surrender or consecration have written
it out on paper, in the form of a will, and, signing it, have called on
angels and God to witness the solemn act of their souls. But whether it
is written out on paper or be simply the unchangeable determination
within the heart, the point must be come to when all is yielded. There
must be a final "yes" to God; the gift must be deposited on the altar,
and from henceforth you are to consider yourself wholly the Lord's no
matter how you feel about it. It must amount to a transaction, like the
signing of a deed, or a contract, and when it has come to this point
where you do actually hand yourself over to the Lord, body, soul, and
all to be His forever, then you are to count the offering complete and
the die cast forever.
Should you be tempted to investigate whether you "feel" that you are all
consecrated, remember that your feelings have nothing to do with it.
Your will is master here. As your will goes, you go.
"When thy soul is on the altar laid,
Guard it from each vain desire;
When thy soul the perfect price hath paid,
God will send the holy fire."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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