To pick up the cross and deny the self everyday is not easy at all, as the goal is to be born again, to be Christ like. It is written in Romans 12:1 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, 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. And in 1 Peter 4:1-2 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. I then remembered a vision by Susan Cummings (the website www.list.topica.com/lists/JustHisWords/read is no longer available) I translated 16 years ago. But a copy of this vision can be found in holiness.org.uk.
This vision explained in plain words of Jesus’ teaching on how to become his disciples. Luke 9:23-24 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Below are the main sections of the vision.
Through The Gate of Surrender
In a vision, I see a scene that spreads out before me. It is a scene of an ancient town or village. There are stone walls surrounding this village and the walls are thick and high. The stones are old and there are plants growing within some of the cracks in the stone walls.
I study the walls for a few minutes. The walls are old, as I noted earlier. They are very tall and wide and have gaps here and there for windows, I guessed. There are no entrances on this side of the wall except for a very old gate that is completely blocked by brambles and stuff growing around it.
…… Then I noticed an inscription above the gate. It was hard to read as some of the brambles had grown over it. But I stood and reached through to move some of the branches out of the way. The inscription was very old and was etched into the rock above the gate. It read, “Surrender.”
The Lord then spoke to me, and said, “Surrender is the least used gate of all.”
He said, “This gate is the most valuable of all, and the least recognized. It is the most hated and the most feared, and men will do anything to not enter in through it, even though it is the quickest entrance into the town.”
“As you have guessed, this town represents My House, and it’s current state of disrepair and workmanship. The gates are many, but the most important ones are often abused, neglected, controlled, or broken down. The ones that are used the most are the ones that lead to their business or fellowship places.”
“Many think they can bypass this gate, and enter into what I am currently doing, and go through another way. There is no other gate through which men can enter in by. For I AM the Gate, and all who come to the Father, come only through here. It is through full surrender to Me, that they truly enter in.”
“I am not just talking about salvation. I have many sheep in many pastures.”
“I am talking about fully abiding In Me. Surrender comes when you truly lay all things down, and can take My Yoke upon you, and drink from My Cup. Few can. Many take My Name, My Blood, My Word and My Throne and call it theirs. But few truly have died and laid themselves at My Feet, and have given me their life to make it into My Image. Few want to look like Me, think like Me, and live like Me. Fewer still, fully surrender to Me.”
“I am coming for those who are Mine. Who are fully surrendered to Me, and who live the crucified life. I am coming for those who bear My Cross and who drink My Cup. I am coming for those who know My Sufferings and My Joy. I am coming for those who bear My Mark and who bear My Name within them. For I indeed write My Word and My Name upon the tablets of the hearts and minds of My People. Those who have given their hearts and minds to Me, and who walk fully in My Ways. These are also those who bear the reproach of men in their bodies and who bear My Holiness within them. They have allowed the work of My Father to be burnt within them and without. These are the truly Righteous Ones.”
Jesus then stood back and stepped closer to where I was standing. He looked at me, and said, “I want you to enter the gate.”
……
I strained at the brambles and thought of ways that I could move the branches. There seemed to be no way that I could see. I looked around for something to dig with. I thought if I dug them out by the roots, then I could pull each bush out, one by one. But there was nothing. The Lord was still standing there, and He had no shovel either.
The Lord watched me intently. I was getting frustrated, and stood up. The brambles were not only not moving, but they were scratching me and scraping me as well. I had made no progress. I looked at the brambles and sat down.
The Lord sat down next to me. He said to me, “You cannot remove them by your own works.”
“Men make the mistake thinking they can work their way to Me. They can clear and clean up their lives and make things right on their own. It is only when you come to the end of yourself and realize that you can do nothing, and are nothing without Me, is when you can truly surrender all. But men do not want to give me their wills.”
“Only I can remove the brambles. For they are the defenses that men erect that prevent them from drawing closer to Me. Each bramble represents those things that give you security and comfort, and strength. They feed your self esteem and make you think you are whole. It is those things that your will relies upon to feed it and to maintain it’s identity.”
“It is when you understand that I AM truly your Lord and that you are not separate from Me, and that your will is My Will, then you can truly release the brambles in your life to Me. Until then, you will erect them and use them for your purposes and miss My Will for your life. When men choose My Will, and fully embrace Me, then My Fire can fully come. It is My Fire that removes the brambles and all of the defenses that prevent them from knowing Me intimately. It is My Fire that will burn up all the debris that still remains, so that you can open the door and walk with Me freely.”
…… The Lord then said, “I Am the door by which all men may enter, for I made the way available for all men. I am willing to let all pass through who wish to, but few choose to.”
“Most go around this gate and try to find another way to enter in to My House. But they never deal with the root issues, the brambles, and are not truly surrendered to Me, and haven’t given me their will, so I am not truly Lord.”
“I take each child who comes to Me, and bring each of them through the gates to My House, one at a time. Each holds a Truth, and a key for their lives. Each brings them closer to Me and brings them a deeper knowledge of Me, but none will bring them closer or more intimate with Me, than this one. This is the most resisted and the most feared.”
“If you do not fully surrender to Me, and become one with Me, and take on My Likeness and My Life, then I do not truly know you. Unless you are fully changed, you will remain a stranger, and be cast into outer darkness at My Coming.”
“Men think that can camp on My Truths, and partake of a few things here and there, and make it their platform and defense, but they fail to apply Me, the Living Word, the whole Council of God, to their lives, and they are not fully changed. They only become more entangled with their works and become further alienated from Me.”
“But you must fully embrace all of Me, and utterly cast yourself upon Me, and take Me fully as your Lord, and God. I alone, will change you, as you embrace Me. I alone, can make you into My Image, and not of yourself. Do not take one Truth, and discard another, but fully embrace all of My Word, and let it do its work within you. Do not elevate one Truth above another, and build upon them, but eat them, and let them abide in you.”
“My Word is to be eaten, and not built upon, and used for men’s purposes. It is to be embraced. It is to be partaken of, and the fruit of it will be walked out. It is the Life that is in My Word, when properly partaken of, that will be reflected outwardly. That is what will be seen. The Surrendered Life is a visible life that is seen by all. It is hated by many.”
“When I am fully reflected, then true change has come.”
-Susan Cummings, September 18th, 2005 at 3:58 in the morning
www.list.topica.com/lists/JustHisWords/read
Total Surrender
To know the truth is one thing and to walk it out is another. Thanks be to God, Cathy Baillis share her experience of total surrender with AStrongerFaith.org in Episode 97, a real life application of how she overcame fear by surrender the bramble in her life, the financial backing for retirement. She went through deliverance prayer which include sections of repentance, forgiveness, surrender and fight oppressive demonic spirits.
Due to her reluctance in the surrender part, the deliverance session did not succeed in setting her free. It reflected the words in Susan’s vision, “the brambles and all of the defenses that prevent them from knowing Me intimately.” Cathy’s store is a real life example showing total surrender and prayer in truth are the key to fulfill the scripture; “offer your bodies as living scarifies, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.“.
Cathy had great fear when things got beyond her control, it confirmed Susan’s vision again, “It is only when you come to the end of yourself and realize that you can do nothing, and are nothing without Me, is when you can truly surrender all.” The first prayer session failed because she didn’t mean what she said. She then did it the second and third time with her prayer group. She overcame the financial part of surrender she was struggling with for some time (@ 39:00 in the video).
Now she is seeking and worshiping daily, often with psalms 91, the dwelling in (the shelter of) the Most High. Then, as a result she can hear God’s voice. Around 6 or 7 years ago, she heard two words, “sanctification” and “purification”. The Spirit of God led her to the confession of her sins. The interview is around two hours long, there are many things we can learn from that video.
I think before real surrendering, we somehow live in sin without confessing or even knowing. Many of us are so used to sin that we don’t care whether we sin or not, as many people don’t have the true knowledge of what sin is. Jesus said “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand!” but what sin exactly we have to repent? We often play dummy or give up something to brush it off and claim we have repented.
A few days later, this thought came to my mind, If a true prayer of surrender from the heart can bring life change experience for Cathy, how much more will it bring out if we really mean what we say when praying all the psalms! We have no idea how much we have starved our soul to death by not serious in praying the psalms.
Hidden power in true prayers
The Psalms have so many powerful prayer examples that can bring real transformation if we reach the stage of what we say is what we mean in prayers. Now take a look at just few verses from chapter 119;
- Psalms 119:4-6 (AFV) You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Your commandments.
Immediately after typing this, I know why only few people would like to obey the scripture; “speak to yourselves with psalms“. Deep inside we know we do not “have respect unto all Your commandments“. I don’t know how many are serious about the word, “to keep Your precepts diligently“. It means we are commanded to keep all Jesus’ teaching diligently, not pick and choose as we wish. As verse 6 says, “respect unto all Your commandments“, not just a few, but all of them.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I always pray these verses with ease, no intention to even know what are these precepts and statutes I suppose to keep. Now I am learning the meaning of 2 Corinthians 13:5-7 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you — unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong. I examined myself now, I did something wrong and I have too little faith.
I have to go back to chapter 51 and learn to be more serious in what I say in prayer, as I need a new heart;
Psalms 51:9-11 (NKJV) Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. - Psalms 119:10-12 (AFV) With all my heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word I have laid up in my heart, so that I might not sin against You. Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.
Now I can see, it cost a lot to pray these 3 verses. Without dying to the old-self, no one can pray this and really mean it from the heart. Of course, any hypocrite can pray all psalms effortlessly. However, when God’s people repeat these psalms, the word of the living God will renew our soul and spirit.
Can’t remember how many time I did speak to my soul silently “With all my heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments.” By the mercy of God my inner being are slowly awakening. I hope every child of God will treasure these prayers in their hearts, they are so sweet and powerful even just meditating them. Now let’s quiet our mind and just (as psalm 4:4) “commune with your own heart” with these 3 verses, slowly;
With all my heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments.
Your word I have laid up in my heart, so that I might not sin against You.
Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.
I think our souls may have been just awakened a little bit. This process of speaking God’s word to our soul is what psalms 23:3 refer to, “He restores my soul, He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” It is not a one time deal, but an ongoing process, as the scripture says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV) “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” I am sure if someone would pray these psalms everyday, and one day he will be experiencing a big awakening or restoring of his soul.
On the other hand, this is our spiritual food everyday, to do the will of God by “pray without ceasing“. Those walk in the flesh consider prayer as a “to do list” send to heaven, requesting God to supply our needs, but it doesn’t work. So I list a few prayer examples of how to practice Jesus’ teaching, “seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness“. We need to learn praying in truth — “what we say is what we mean”. Let’s try slowly;
Psalms 119:57-58 You are my portion, LORD; I have promised to obey your words.
I have sought your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise.
Psalms 119:65-66 Do good to your servant according to your word, LORD.
Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.
Psalms 119:73-74 Your hands made me and formed me; give me understanding to learn your commands.
May those who fear you rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in your word.
Psalms 119:93-94 I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.
Save me, for I am yours; I have sought out your precepts.
Psalms 119:97-98 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.
Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.
Psalms 119:102-104 I have not departed from your laws, for you yourself have taught me.
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.
Psalms 119:105-106 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws.
Psalms 119:111-112 Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees to the very end.